


thought i could grow with the company

by interabang



Category: Heroes (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-23
Updated: 2007-08-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 05:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13780782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interabang/pseuds/interabang
Summary: HRG pauses to reflect before carrying out his last OWI assignment.





	thought i could grow with the company

**Author's Note:**

> The "present" part takes place before Bennet picks up Claire for the final scene in 'Company Man.'
> 
> Title changed from 'Untitled' to a lyric from the song 'Company Man,' by Warren Haynes.

****He sat in the driver’s seat, parked on the street next to his house. There was only the distant call of birds, signaling dawn. The air outside was new, but as soon as he locked himself inside the car - hardly noticing this instinctive move - he calmly noticed that he felt compressed, almost like he was being suffocated.

He didn’t move for a full minute. Instead, he breathed. Breathed in, despite the agonizing metal and plastic that surrounded him, and breathed out, even though the windows were up and he was unconsciously sucking in so much canned, limited air.

He looked to his right, resting his gaze on the place he had lived for the past seventeen years. _  
_

 

 

 

_**Four Months Ago** _

__Claire shook her head in regret, and a possible side order of fear._ _

__She stammered, “I’m sorry Dad... I’m really, really sorry!”_ _

__“That is unsatisfactory,” Noah replied. “You're very lucky that there aren't any damages, but that wasn't very smart decision-making on your part. You’re growing up, Claire, and you really need to start acting like an adult.”_ _

__“I know, and I promise that I’ll make it up to you.  I swear that this will never happen again.”_ _

__He had come home early that day to find Claire in an empty house that was riddled with smoke. She had tried to bake some brownies, but had forgotten them in the oven when she went upstairs to talk on the phone for a few hours too long. Sandra and Lyle were away at a dog show, and if Bennet hadn’t arrived when he did, he almost felt as though there wouldn’t be any of his house – or his Claire – left._ _

__“Yes, you will make it up to me, and the rest of the family. I don’t know how yet, but there’s definitely going to be some heavy consequences for your carelessness.”_ _

__She hung her head down in shame. A slight tear trickled slowly down from her eyelashes to her chin. She made no move to wipe it away, and Noah could feel his heart breaking a little._ _

__It broke a little every day, now. Claire had always gotten little bumps and bruises from running into things, clumsy as she was. But lately, her surrogate father noticed that they were healing at a more rapid rate than his own personal scars ever did._ _

__He drew her into a hug, unable to resist her sad, regretful eyes. He used to be able to turn away from her when she needed him, to protect himself and the rest of the family, but those days were long gone._ _

__He was beginning to understand the meaning of unconditional love, and the price you sometimes have to pay for it._ _

__Oh, Claire would still be punished, of course. Her grounding and extended list of chores would come later, but for now, the initial reconciliation was sealed._ _

__And Claire was, after all, still around to be grounded._ _

__“You’re going to burn the house down, one day,” he said, and she coughed out a relieved, thankful laugh into his shirt._ _

 

 

 

Looking back, Noah realized that was the least funny joke he had ever told.

He slammed his palm against the steering wheel. He had made plans, had everything figured out; there were barely any holes left that were open for mistakes. Bennet prided himself on carrying out a mission without making any mistakes, except for that one time he went to look for a woman named Meredith Gordon.

But this was different.  _Nothing_  could go wrong, or everything he did to protect his daughter would be for naught.

 _It won’t_ , Bennet thought.  _I promised myself that I would keep her safe, no matter what._

No matter what they did to him, he would never give her up. Even if it meant never seeing her again... even if it meant his death, he was willing to trade anything he could for her freedom.

Noah Bennet breathed out silently one more time, then turned on the ignition and slowly pulled away from the wreckage that was his home.

 


End file.
